Big business, ‘country’s owners’ in court showdown today

Santo Domingo.- The Superior AdministrativeCourt (TSA) will hear today Monday a request for an injunction filed by theNational Business Council (Conep) that seeks to break with the decades-old monopolyon freight transport held by the associations of bus and truck owners popularlyknown as the "country’s owners" for their often violent strikes withimpunity.

In s statement the business association said "societyin general and the business sector in particular are awaiting today the Court’sruling on the request filed by Conep and 90 Dominican companies andassociations to urge the State to put an end to abuses and anticompetitivepractices in the sector by trade unions and related federations."

The Conep said it’s necessary to eradicatethe abuses and anticompetitive practices of the transport unions.

It said its lawsuit also seeks to ensure thatcitizens’ right to choose the transport that suits them best without beingforced to use vehicles that do not possess the minimum conditions of safety orcomfort.

it asks the TSA to rule in favor of requiringgovernment agencies to carry out their legal functions, to ensure minimumquality of the service to avoid confrontations between unions over the control of the routes and ensure that anyperson or company able to compete in transport can do so without being forced tojoin a transport guild.

"in the absence of regulatoryregulations, it’s necessary to enact legislation to guarantee free competitionin the land transport of cargo and that this norm establish mechanisms thatprohibit and prevent the establishment of any type of federation to set pricesor fees for all modalities of transport."